Larry J. Siegel
www.cengage.com/cj/siegel
Chapter 1
Crime and Criminal Justice
Joe Morris • Northwestern State University
Cherly Gary • North Central Texas College
Lisa Ann Zilney • Montclair State
Learning Objectives
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Define the concept of criminal justice.
Beware of the long history of crime in America.
Discuss the formation of the criminal justice system.
Name the three basic component agencies of
criminal justice.
Comprehend the size and scope of the
contemporary justice system.
Trace the formal criminal justice process.
Know what is meant by the term “criminal justice
assembly line.”
Discuss the “wedding cake” model of justice.
Be familiar with the various perspectives on justice.
Understand the ethical issues concerning ethics in
criminal justice.
The Criminal Justice System
• System of law enforcement, adjudication, and
correction
• Directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution,
and control of those charged with criminal offenses
The Criminal Justice System
Protecting the public
Maintaining order
Enforcing the law
Identifying transgressors
Bringing the guilty to justice
Treating criminal behavior
Is Crime a Recent Development?
• Part of society for ages
• Crime rate may actually have been much higher in
the 19th and 20th centuries
Crime at the Turn of the 20th Century
• 1900 – 1935 sustained increase in criminal activity
• Criminal gangs formed before the Civil War in urban
slums, becoming the forerunners of modern day
organized crime families
Developing the Criminal Justice System
• First police department - London Metropolitan Police
1829
• The Chicago Crime Commission - professional
association which acted as a citizens’ advocate
group
• The National Commission on Law Observance and
Enforcement - created by President Hoover; helped
usher in the era of treatment and rehabilitation
The Modern Era of Justice
• Began in the 1950’s with a series of research
projects
• Focus was on the criminal justice process
Federal Involvement
• 1967 – President’s Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Justice
• Practitioners, educators, and attorneys created a
comprehensive view of the CJ process and
recommended reforms
The Contemporary CJS
• Social control
• Formal social control
• Informal social control
Components of the Criminal Justice System
The Criminal Justice System
• Costs federal, state, and local governments
approximately $ 215 billion per year for civil and
criminal justice
• Has increased more than 300% since 1982
Adult Correctional Population
Direct expenditure by level
of government, 1982-2004
Percent change
1982-2004
$100
$80
366%
Local
State
Billions
Federal
480%
$60
$40
704%
$20
$0
1982
1993
2004
Direct expenditure by criminal justice
function, 1982-2006
Percent change
1982-2006
$100
$80
420%
Police
Corrections
Billions
Judicial
660%
$60
503%
$40
$20
$0
1982
1990
1998
2006
The Formal Criminal Justice Process
• Report of a crime
• Initial contact of a
suspected offender
• Investigation
• Arrest
• Custody
• Charging
• Preliminary
Hearing/Grand Jury
• Arraignment
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Bail/Detention
Plea Bargaining
Trial/Adjudication
Sentencing/Disposition
Appeal/Post-conviction
remedies
• Correctional treatment
• Release
• Post-release
Criminal Justice Assembly Line
• Stages are decision points
• Stages serve as checks and balances
The Criminal Justice Funnel
500
crimes reported
to police
400
crimes unsolved
100
people arrested
30 put on
probation or
dismissed
35 juveniles
go to juvenile
court
65 adults
considered for
prosecution
40 cases
accepted for
prosecution
30
cases go
to trial
27
plead
guilty
10
jump vail
or abscond
1
acquitted
2
found
guilty
29
sentenced
20
adults
incarcerated
25
cases dropped
20
adults
incarcerated
9
placed on
probation
The Informal CJ Process
• Courtroom Work Group - prosecutor, defense
attorney, judge, and others
• Streamlines justice through extensive use of plea
bargaining and other alternatives
The “Wedding Cake” Model of Justice
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Celebrated cases
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Serious felonies
III
Less serious felonies
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Misdemeanors
Perspectives on Justice
Crime control
Rehabilitation
Due process
Non-interventionist
Equal justice
Restorative justice
Crime Control Perspective
• Control of dangerous offenders and the protection of
society
• Harsh punishments as a deterrent to crime
• Purpose of the justice system is to deter crime
through the application of punishment
• The more efficient the system, the greater its
effectiveness
• The justice system is not equipped to treat people
but to investigate crimes, apprehend suspects,
and punish the guilty
Rehabilitation Perspective
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Care for people who cannot manage themselves
It is better to treat than punish
Criminals are society’s victims
Helping others is part of the American culture
Due Process Perspective
• Focus on the defendant’s rights to prevent the
wrongful conviction of an innocent person
• Need to preserve Constitutional rights and
democratic ideals takes precedence over the need to
punish the guilty
• Decisions must be carefully scrutinized to avoid
errors
• Everyone must be treated equally and fairly
Nonintervention Perspective
• Justice system stigmatizes offenders
• Stigma locks people into a criminal way of life
• Decriminalize, divert, and deinstitutionalize
Equal Justice Perspective
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Equal justice to those who come before the law
Equal treatment for equal crimes
Structured justice, “just deserts”
Reduced and controlled use of discretion
Inconsistent treatment produces disrespect for the
system
Restorative Justice Perspective
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Peacemaking rather than punishment
Offenders should be reintegrated back into society
Coercive punishments are self-defeating
Justice system must become more humane
Perspectives in Perspective
• Crime Control and Justice Models have dominated
• Rehabilitative efforts have not been abandoned
Ethics in Criminal Justice
• Justice personnel function in an environment where
moral ambiguity is the norm
• Enormous power granted to criminal justice
employees
• Ethics and law enforcement - officers have the
authority to deprive people of their liberty
• Ethics and the courts - seek justice for all parties
• Ethics and corrections - significant coercive
power over offenders